This Month in Retro December 2022
Hello all and welcome to This Month in Retro! After two console launch months and a break, we return to 1994 where we... funnily enough have another console launch! Though this time I won't dedicate the entire article to said console since it was the PlayStation 1 in Japan. As big as PlayStation is now, people at the time were still uncertain what this completely new company would bring to the table, resulting in a launch line-up that is better left forgotten. Most of it was just Mahjong and Shogi after all. My original plan was actually to have a Christmas-themed TMIR, but there wasn't a single Christmas-themed game released this month soo... we have a very normal month to look at. A very tame month even, since November 1994 was absolutely nuts when it came to game releases, so they cooled down a bit to prepare for the year after. Except for in Japan where they still continued to pump out absolute bangers, and this month is especially special for me in that regard. Why? Well, find out when you reach the Japanese side of today's This Month in Retro!
The usual still applies: I take a look at some of the highlights released this month, as well as the low hanging fruit and the hidden gems. If they have a RetroAchievements set, great! I'll tell you all about how to approach the set based on community feedback. If the game doesn't have a set, then maybe I can somehow convince you to put a set request in. While doing so, I take a look at what critics had to say (only before 2000 since we want opinions of the time from them, not now), what fans around the internet think of the game, and maybe put some sales figures and the legacy it has left behind. Data from the 90s can be a bit wonky however, so please keep that in mind. Without further ado, let's take a look at the releases of December 1994!
I already slightly eluded to it, but the western side this month took it a bit slower compared to the month before where we had such massive hits as Donkey Kong Country. That's not to say that this month was complete drought though, as there were still somehow two Mario-related games released!
| Game |
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 Tetris and Dr. Mario (SNES)
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| Release dates | NA: December 30, 1994 |
| PAL: November 3, 2000 | |
| Sales | ??? |
| Average score | 87% (MobyGames, based on 7 reviews) |
What's better than one puzzle game? If your answer is two, then you are a genius. Tetris & Dr. Mario are enhanced remakes of the originals for the NES and Game Boy. Both games feature the same block- or pill-dropping gameplay beloved by puzzle fans all over the world, with the unique feature being the "mixed match" multiplayer mode. In this mode, two players have to play matches between both games interchangeably to end up with the most points at the end. If you only prefer one of the two games though, don't fret as there is still an independent multiplayer mode for both. Features from both the originals have been taken as well, such as the music and A/B-type modes from Game Boy Tetris. Suffice to say, for fans of both puzzle games this ended up being a really neat package, with the unique multiplayer mode getting the most praise. Fans are unsurprisingly in agreement since well... it's Tetris and Dr. Mario but better and in one package. It would be hard to mess this up, and fortunately, they didn't.
The achievement set covers both games and will test your skill in both to the max. After all, both puzzle games have higher difficulties and speed, and you won't be getting the mastery if you can't beat either while enduring multiple matches back to back.
| Game |
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 Wario's Woods (NES)
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| Game |
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 Wario's Woods (SNES)
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| Release dates | JP: February 19, 1994 (NES-version only) |
| NA: December 10, 1994 | |
| PAL: November 3, 2000 | |
| Sales | ??? |
| Average score | NES: 80% (MobyGames, based on 1 review) |
| SNES: 67% (GameRankings, based on 1 review), 65% (MobyGames, based on 5 reviews) |
And that wasn't the only Mario-related puzzle game either! Released on two consoles at the same time with the NES version being the last officially-licensed NES game in North America, Wario's Woods is another object-falling puzzle game, but this time with Toad waiting at the bottom to line them up together horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Both monsters- and bombs drop, and the player needs to get rid of all the coloured monsters by having at least one bomb in the line-up. Toad does have a few moves up his arsenal to make it easier, give that he isn't able to reach everything. Oh, and as for why the game is named after Wario... he's the villain who only shows up during cutscenes, as he took over the peaceful woods and branded them as his own. That's the only relation it has to Wario really. Critics at the time weren't too fond of the game however, citing it as being a bit too complex--especially on the controls side. And of course, critics loved to compare such a game to other similar games in the genre, and mentioned that it couldn't compete with either Dr. Mario or Tetris. It was seen as nothing more than a Tetris clone with a slightly unique twist, but fans were a bit more positive on it, mostly appreciating the difficulty that came with it.
The NES version doesn't have a set yet, but is currently claimed so maybe we'll see it soon! The SNES version does have a set, in which the players have to go through the lengthy story mode to beat every boss, and also make it all the way to round 199 in game mode! As indicated by people in the forums and comment wall, this is extremely tough to do, so a mastery won't come easy. Players have been asking for a rescore due to it being so difficult, so maybe some changes will happen to this set in the future as well!
That's enough puzzle games for today. There's only so many I can talk about before my descriptions growing stale after all. Instead, let's go see what the Atari kids were getting this month!
| Game |
|---|
 Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales (Atari Jaguar)
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| Release dates | NA: December 9, 1994 |
| PAL: January ??, 1995 | |
| JP: July ??, 1995 | |
| Sales | At least 50.000 |
| Average score | NES: 69% (MobyGames, based on 7 reviews) |
So, I stray away from the Nintendo consoles and the first character I come across is Bubsy huh? I see how it is. Alright, let's get this over with then. Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales is the third entry in the much beloved Bubsy franchise, that has remained exclusive to the Atari Jaguar to this day. Like its two predecessors, this game is a 2D platformer starring Bubsy the Bobcat, taking place across worlds inspired by fairy tales such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Hansel and Gretel. However, these all end up corrupted and Bubsy is the chosen one set out to fix them. This game was part of an agreement between Atari and Accolade to bring five exclusive titles to their platform, with this originally being a port of the first game that ended up becoming its own project. It does still largely play like the first game for that reason... for better or worse. It didn't get bashed by reviewers too much as it did end up with an average score in the end, citing that the 14 Bubsy fans would really enjoy this, but others may look elsewhere due to high difficulty and sloppy controls. Player scores were far lower, but whether that's due to it being a bad game or just cool to hate on Bubsy is a question I can't answer. After all, it was on the Atari Jaguar; it was doomed from the start not to have many people play it, so it's rare to find opinions about it in the first place.
Despite its reputations, Bubsy in Fractured Furry Tales was the first achievement set to be released for the system! It's a pretty straightforward set without too many challenges, but it does cover the entire game and that's what matters the most after all. So if you can get the Jaguar emulator running fine and can endure this game, then a new mastery might end up in your possession!
Although it would be easy to give the title of "Worst game of the month" to Bubsy, it actually had some pretty fierce competition from games all about competition. This resulted in not just one, but two Fighting games aiming for that title. One of them is Rise of the Robots on the SNES, and as much as I would like to talk about it since it's a childhood game of mine, it was a game released on pretty much everything and also earlier than December. So instead, I'll just be talking about Kasumi Ninja today.
| Game |
|---|
 Kasumi Ninja (Atari Jaguar)
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| Release dates | NA: December 21, 1994 |
| PAL: December 21, 1994 | |
| JP: July ??, 1995 | |
| Sales | At least 24.000 |
| Average score | NES: 62% (MobyGames, based on 7 reviews) |
There is no better way to describe Kasumi Ninja than by directly calling it a Mortal Kombat rip-off. That's not even meant to be mean-spirited as that was literally the intention behind the game: bring the ultra-violent fighting genre to the Jaguar. Digitized graphics are here, one-on-one fighting, and the bloodiest blood the bloody Jaguar has seen. So yeah, Mortal Kombat, just with a sprinkle of bad controls and slow gameplay. Ironically the story is kind of okay though? There is a secret island in the ocean where ninjas are trained, with three elder ninjas keeping the cosmic balance between good and evil to keep the netherworld portal closed. One of the elders is possessed, kills the others and wants to destroy the world. But yeah, despite the score still looking to be in the positive digits, it was panned by critics. Somehow a sequel was in the works, but that was cancelled once Atari went out of business, and probably for the better. Gamer opinions were yet again a bit tougher to find due to, y'know, this being an Atari Jaguar game, but the ones I could find do cite it as one of the worst fighting games ever so I think it's safe to say most people didn't like this very much.
Somehow though, this game ended up getting an achievement set! It features fights against all characters on various difficulties, with added requirements to not lose a round against them. While those may sound menacing, the game is so uh, specific that there seems to be specific strategies to accomplishing them. I'm not going to find out though, thank you very much.
...Let's just move back to Nintendo instead. The SNES was during its prime in 1994, so as much as I try to look at other consoles, all interesting releases simply just happened here. I just talked about two of the worst received games released this month, so time to move on to some better games, starting with:
| Game |
|---|
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Kasumi Ninja (Atari Jaguar)
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| Release dates | NA: December 21, 1994 |
| PAL: December 21, 1994 | |
| JP: July ??, 1995 | |
| Sales | At least 24.000 |
| Average score | NES: 62% (MobyGames, based on 7 reviews) |
The Japanese coverage this month will be very short--in fact, it will only be about Game Boy Color games too. Aside from there not being too many big hitters, a lot of the games were too text-heavy with no translation in sight, there was too little information known about them, or they were fishing games. I'm serious, there were like, three different Fishing Club games released this month and a bunch of others as well. I figured I would mention them because I know someone really liked fishing games so if you're reading this then hi! Anyway, let's move on to some games!
| Game |
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 Magical Chase (Game Boy Color)
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| Release date | JP: August 4, 2000 |
First up we have the port of Magical Chase to the Game Boy Color. The game was initially developed for the TurboGrafx-16 which did end up seeing a North American release, but the Game Boy Color version was never released in the west. If you have played the TurboGrafx-16 version however, you are not really missing out on much as it is a 1-to-1 port with simplified visuals and music. That is of course not a bad thing, given that the original game was a well-received very cutesy horizontal shoot 'em up compared to the likes of Cotton. Magical Chase ended up being a single IP that has never been revisited, and that probably won't ever be revisited either unless Square Enix decides it's time to bring her out of retirement again. The TurboGrafx-16 version does have a solid set available on RetroAchievements, but the Game Boy Color version does not. There is a translation available however! I wouldn't say you really need it, but the choice is yours.
Let's stay on the Game Boy Color for a bit longer as most of the interesting games this month were found here. Next up, we have two RPGs!
| Game |
|---|
 Soul Getter: Houkago Bouken RPG (Game Boy Color)
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| Release date | JP: August 4, 2000 |
There was actually one very simple reason I've decided to talk about this game: the battles play out exactly like they do in Breath of Fire, specifically the first game in that series. That isometric view they use during battle is a 1-on-1 conversion and you can't tell me otherwise. It also has a really sweet OST that I wouldn't mind listening to on repeat. But this game is unfortunately very, very unknown. The amount of information that I was able to gather is minimal, although it looks like you can combine up to three souls to perform magic attacks in battle. Yet somehow, it is a game with an English translation, albeit unfinished. While I don't know too much about it otherwise, it's a game I would like to see a complete translation of eventually, so my aim today is to bring attention to it for a potential future audience!
| Game |
|---|
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Dungeon Savior (Game Boy Color)
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| Release date | JP: August 4, 2000 |
Kind of funny how all three games I've talked about today have all released on the exact same date. Anyway, if you want an even more obscure game than the last one, Dungeon Savior has you covered as this game has almost zero coverage on the internet whatsoever. Yet it surprisingly had a game page before I started writing this, so that's an interesting plot twist. Anyhow, Dungeon Savior is a competitive dungeon RPG maker, where you build dungeons and fill them with traps- and monsters, and then attack other people their dungeons to capture theirs. It does have an impressive count of monsters and items to be found- and placed within these dungeons though! But yeah, that's all you're getting from me, I can't find out anything else. The relatively generic name probably didn't help as I found a lot of other games yet not this one. I'm at least sure there is no translation, and also none in the work, so I'm yet again bringing this to your attention but don't expect it on RetroAchievements anytime soon.
Now do you understand my suffering of having so little to talk about this month? I really tried, I swear. Oh well, let's move on to a game that I can actually write more than two sentences about!
| Game |
|---|
 Dance Dance Revolution GB (Game Boy Color)
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| Release date | JP: August 3, 2000 |
Ah finally, something I can talk about without even needing to go into the deep webz. After all, who doesn't know DDR? Dance Dance Revolution GB is a port of Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX, originally released in Arcades and later ported over to the PlayStation 1 and Dreamcast as well. Obviously, the lyrics are missing and the songs have been converted into chiptunes, but they still sound pretty sweet if you ask me. I've already listening to Butterfly by SMiLE.dk more than a human ever should in their lives, so having a chiptune version of it is a nice alternative. The original release also came with a plastic pad to put over the Game Boy Color that would mimic dance pad moves, but it could also just be played with a D-Pad. You could probably be a mad lad and play the game on a dance pad through the emulator, but I don't know if that's the smartest idea. Don't let me stop you though! There are a total of 17 songs to play through, and link cable connectivity allows for competitive play against friends.
The game does not have a translation, but it's not like you really need it. Hence why it was no problem for this game to get an achievement set! All songs ask you to do them on Maniac ficciulty, as well as a rank of at least A and also hitting perfect notes. You will have to get good at DDR, because the set is not holding back! There are also some Arcade playthroughs to be done, so good luck! And if you can't get enough, there are also sets available for the two sequels and the Disney Mix version.
And... that's unfortunately going to be it for the Japanese side this month. I really tried to find more games to talk about, but this month just didn't have too many games that never left the land of the rising sun. But before I leave, I do want to shortly mention three games that I considered talking about, but left out for a reason I'll mention with them.
- Perfect Choro Q - Part of the Choro Q/Penny Racers franchise, this game is not a typical racing game like the others, but more a... role-playing golf-like game? I'm serious, you take turns and fire your cars towards walls to bounce them off and make it to the finish line. The concept sounds interesting, but it did look like a text-heavy game with no translation in sight, and not much else could be found out about it either.
- Nushi Tsuri Adventure: Kite no Bouken - This game actually does have an English translation! Localized by fans as Fishing King Adventure: Kite's Adventure, this is a role-playing game combined with fishing. Unfortunately, this seemed to be more of a passion project as there is not much other information to be found other than what the translator has provided.
- Rune Jade - The only non-Game Boy Color game I planned to talk about, Rune Jade is a Japanese MMORPG on the Dreamcast that plays like games such as Diablo. The best part about this game is that there is enough offline content, and that a fan actually went through the effort of translating most of this offline part. But yet again, that's where most of the information ends for me.
It was very surprising to me that after the strong months we've had on the Japanese side in the past few issues, that I really had a lot of trouble to find interesting games to talk about. Meanwhile, the Western side had more than enough to talk about as indicated by the list at the end of the segment. How the tables have turned huh? Regardless, I hope I was able to bring some unknown Japanese games to your attention, because as a retro community, these are exactly the games we want to know about and appreciate for what they are.
As mentioned before, there were three contenders for Game of the Month on the western side. Chrono Cross would win on the score side from the critics, but it ended up very divisive when players got their hands on it. Meanwhile Mario Tennis has an overall consistent opinion and, let's be honest, the sales are higher simply because it is Mario while the other is an RPG. The worst game could potentially be Lil' Monster, but it's tough to say due to how unknown in it. I didn't actually talk about the game, but the title of worst game would probably belong to The Ring: Terror's Realm for the Dreamcast. Not a lot of people were fond of this attempt at Survival Horror. It's pretty much the only game I looked up where there was far more negative opinions to be found rather than positive.
We go back in time again next month to the year 1986, where we will see a smaller release for a console over in the west for the first time. What system am I talking about? Find out next time in This Month in Retro!
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